There has been a steady increase in the incidence of resistant bacterial infections in the past decade both in hospital and community acquired settings. There is an urgent need to identify novel compounds and/or drug targets that are active against these pathogens. Surprisingly, 1,2-benzisothiazoline and isoindoline compounds first described in WO 2010/039545, filed on 23 Sep. 2009 and incorporated herein by reference, have shown effectiveness in methods of treating, preventing and/ameliorating bacterial infection in subjects in need thereof.